


The Genesis Code

by MissMarquin



Category: Pocket Monsters: Gold & Silver & Crystal | Pokemon Gold Silver Crystal Versions
Genre: Action, Action & Romance, Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Drama, F/M, Fantasy, Spyploitation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-04
Updated: 2015-11-07
Packaged: 2018-04-29 20:22:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5141318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissMarquin/pseuds/MissMarquin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kotone Soul is a Detective with Goldenrod Narcotics. After busting what seemed like a local gang operation, they find they that are instead dealing with the Team Rocket Syndicate, something far worse and far deadlier. Kotone must go undercover to reach the bottom of this new development and bring back a missing- and potentially rogue agent. A film-noir and James Bond inspired, AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**One**

 

“Kotone!”

The voice shot through her ear and she winced. The earbud crackled a bit and she used her finger to wiggle it around slightly. There was static, followed by a slight reverb that left her ear ringing.

“Oi, oi,” she whispered into her mic harshly. Giving up her position would _not_ be a good thing at the moment. Instead, she leaned against the brick wall, pressing her wrist against her mouth to talk as low into the device as she could. “I can hear you, no need to shout.”

“Don’t you _dare_ think about going in there alone,” the voice crackled in her ear, albeit softer this time. Kotone rolled her eyes; uncanny, how the woman could practically read her mind. The Chief wasn’t wrong though—she really should wait for back up, but that would take too much time, she feared. They had come a long way to get to where they were, shimmied against a dirty brick wall in a cramped back alley in Goldenrod. She wasn’t too far from the Game Corner and the slums of the city. But damn it to the heavens, if the Chief ruined everything by _insisting_ that she wait any longer.

“Chief,” she whispered. She paused to check her gun, making sure that everything was proper before she took the safety off. She wouldn’t doubt that the Chief had heard that oh-so familiar click of metal.

“ _Kotone!_ ”

And she had. Kotone let out a sigh of frustration, leaning her mouth towards the receiver in her coat sleeve one more time. She tried to disguise the movement by wiping at her nose, just in case.

“Chief,” she snapped, “I’m going in. Your goons will just have to catch up.”

She heard a rather nasty curse over the line and then more crackling before she yanked the piece from her ear, throwing it to the ground. She winced as she stomped on it—that would certainly come out of her pay—but the less interference she had, the better.

Still, her lips quirked into a smirk and she leaned around the corner of the brick wall. Only one man and a set of Mightyena. She weighed her options, thinking critically. Not terrible odds. She could shoot to maim, since her goal was to bring in someone to question. The Mightyena would be an annoyance, since all she had was her gun, but she was fairly confident that she could at least outrun them in a pinch. Or dodge them. She cursed herself, for leaving her pokéball holster on her desk.

She’d make it work.

Kotone took a deep breath. This operation had been an absolute pain in the ass from the beginning, but it was finally coming to an end. She and her partner had been chasing circles around this particular drug ring for a while, before they had fallen upon a lead. Two months and a lot of headache and long nights later, they were finally at the point of closing in on one of _El Locos Cranidos’_ largest operations on the whole damned continent.

At least, if their source was correct.

She was nervous per se, but she needed to play this one carefully. Or safe, as the Chief would insist, but Kotone liked to walk on the dangerous side of things. Still, Gold was absolutely going to kill her for not waiting.

Suddenly, there was a new voice around the corner and risked a quick peek. Three men now, plus the Mightyena, two of them in a heated conversation.

Kotone cursed lightly—things would be more difficult now. But she really _couldn’t_ wait. The adrenaline was already pumping through her blood at the idea of catching these guys, and she would go crazy if she didn’t respond to that call. After a moment of thought, she shoved her gun into her boot. Not the best place, but it would do for the moment. She pulled off her coat and dropped it to the ground, before yanking the neckline of her shirt into a scandalous position and hiking up the hem to show midriff. She pulled the waistline of her jeans down to show the curved of her hip.

Yes, that would work.

She sauntered around the corner in a rash move, causing the men to look up. All three were nondescript—neither ugly, nor handsome. Normal faces with normal hair, but one had a scar running down his cheek. He sneered nastily at her.

“Hey broad, get ‘outta here.”

Kotone snorted at that. “Are you sure you fellas aren’t looking for some sugar?” she asked, throwing her voice as sultry as she could manage.

But the man practically growled at her. “I won’t say it again. Beat it.”

“Tsk, tsk,” was her reply. She tugged at her neckline daringly and their eyes followed, unable to resist. They stayed pinned there and she resisted the urge to smirk—she had them hooked. “I’m needing some fixing, if you know what I mean, and I’m willing to pay for it.”

“Oh?” the man said after a slight hesitation. They had moved towards her, only few feet away, seemingly more interested in what she was offering. This would be a piece of cake.

 _Backup, be damned_ , she thought smugly. She stepped closer to the man with the scar, running her hand down his arm gently. He tensed slightly under her touch, but leaned in. “Oh yes, honey,” she whispered to him, “I’m sure we can arrange something.”

The man smirked, reaching around to squeeze the bare skin at her waist. Kotone tried her best to not hurl. “And you’re sure that you’re thinking, what we’re thinking, eh?”

She smiled a sultry grin, looking at him through hooded eyes. “Oh yes,” she breathed. Suddenly, she pulled away and leaned down to pull off her boot… and instead, yanked her gun from it. She cocked it instantly and shot the man in the foot. He yowled in fury, causing the other men to snap back to, trying to make sense of what just happened. She cocked her gun again, twisting and firing lazily at one of them. The bullet skimmed the wall next him. To be fair, she wasn’t really trying to aim, but if she could scare them off, it’d help.

One of them ran, while the other turned back around and pulled out his own piece. She darted to the side before the bullet could reach her. The man with the scar was on the ground, moaning in pain, but made no move to get up. Good. She ran towards the other man, tackling him blindly. He flailed in her grasp, and though she was far shorter, she managed to get a good grip around his neck. She hung on for dear life as he tried to shake her off. She pulled her arm against his windpipe and slowly he grew sluggish, before slumping to the ground.

She whirled around to deal with the Mightyena and though both were barking furiously, they made no move towards her. They were chained to the fence at the door. She cracked a grin at her luck.

Scarface moaned again. “Oh shut it,” she snapped, poking at him with her foot. She bent down to grab the gun shoved in his back pocket. “You won’t die.”

“Who—” But he didn’t finish his sentence.

She yanked the chain from around her neck, pulling it up from under her shirt. Her badge flashed gold in front of his eyes. “Detective Kotone Soul, Goldenrod Narcotics. Now shut up and cooperate.”

Before the man could respond though, another voice sounded out from the alleyway behind her.

“Oh thank, _Arceus_.”

Kotone sighed and holstered her gun. “Gold,” she groaned, turning to face him. He had finally arrived with the promised backup—five other officers and a K-9 Growlithe Unit. The relief was visible on his face, and she huffed as he made his way to her.

“I’m fine,” she said.

He gave her a critical look before reaching out and yanking the hem of her shirt down. “Come on, Kotone, make yourself at least decent. I don’t want to see you all hanging out.”

She rolled her eyes, but readjusted her shirt nonetheless. Gold looked tired, his handsome face covered in shadows. The circles under his eyes were hard to miss, but she was sure she looked just as terrible. He ran a haggard hand down his face as the K-9 Unit swept past them to secure the area.

“Really Kotone, what were you thinking?” His tone was angry and that riled her.

“That you were taking too long,” she said without missing a beat.

“And so you just went in”

“You act like I’ve never done this before. Honestly, you should expect it.”

Gold grunted in frustration, rubbing at his brow. It was a tic that he had developed when he was mad. She had first noticed it when they were far younger, but even as they had grown older, he never grew out of it. She could read him like a damn book.

“Oh come on Gold, there were only three of them.”

“ _Only_.”

“Well, at first there was only one,” she conceded, “but—”

“Just stop, Kotone,” he interrupted. She snapped her mouth shut, her annoyance growing larger by the second. She didn’t like this wall of discomfort being thrown up between them, but it had been happening more and more often lately. It was becoming increasingly harder to work with Gold.

Even the Chief has noticed, asking her if she wanted a partner swap. Even only as a temporary measure, to clear her head. And to be honest, she had seriously considered it at first, but then the idea of _not_ being partnered with him had caught up with her. They’d been partners in crime as children and now they were partners _against_ crime. She couldn’t imagine working with anyone other than him. He was the only person that truly understood her.

Still, there was this sudden awkwardness and friction between them, and she wasn’t even sure where it was coming from. All she knew was that she didn’t like it.

“Gold—”

“You’re just so reckless,” he interrupted again. “Too damn reckless.”

She bit her lip as she puffed out her cheeks in annoyance. Like that was truly such a terrible thing; their job was the dictionary definition of reckless. “It doesn’t matter,” she finally said. “I saw a chance and I took it, and damn it all, it worked! So do me a favor, shut up and thank me already.”

Gold sighed, his eyes softening as his anger faded just the tiniest bit. “Alright,” he said, defeated. She grinned; she always won these battles. “Alright, you did good work.”

“Hmph, damn right I did.” She tapped the man with the scar, with her foot. He lay on the ground, now unconscious.

“You didn’t kill him, did you?” He asked wearily. She was certain that he didn’t feel like cleaning up after her, or dealing with the paperwork that it would involve. Thankfully, it was his lucky day.

“Nah, I just shot his foot. What a wimp.” She paused. “We should call a bus though.” Gold nodded and pulled out his Pokégear, doing the honors. Kotone knelt down and rifled through the man’s pockets. Cigarettes, a lighter, nothing unusual until she found a crumpled up wad of paper. She unfolded it, revealing a phone number. “Oi, Gold, look at this.”

He went to her, leaning close as he glanced over her shoulder. He smelled like grass and trees, comforting. Too bad he was still angry with her. She would be the one to apologize first, this time around.

“A phone number?” he questioned.

“Looks like. Wanna call it?”

“ _Now_?”

Kotone turned his to him and grinned. “I don’t see why not. K-9 is taking care of the mess. Let’s do the easy, mess-free work.” She pulled out her own Pokégear to punch in the numbers, but before she would hit the call button, an officer poked his head out of the building.

“Detectives, you should come see this!”

Her finger wavered over the Pokégear and she grunted, pocketing the device instead Gold only shrugged and headed towards the building, and Kotone followed close behind. The building looked like a dilapidated brownstone from the outside, but the inside was in surprisingly better shape. It was an old home-turned-office. The front had a foyer, with an old reception area. The floor was an old tile, cracked here and there, but otherwise decent. The K-9 officer led them through another room and then to the back. There were several thugs in handcuffs, standing off to the side.

Cages filled the room, stacked high on top of another. Numerous breeds of Pokémon filled them, cooing or growling angrily at officers that got too close. A firm line set into Kotone’s brow as she looked around the scene. It deepened when her eyes settled on a large plastic bin, attached to a complicated looking computer system. It was dome-shaped and clear, housing an egg. The computer beeped softly as it monitored it.

“Is that… an incubator?” she finally asked.

“It looks like it,” the K-9 officer replied. Officer Marks, she suddenly recalled. The Growlithe at his side sniffed at it, before letting out a short bark.

That made _no_ sense. _El Locos Cranidos_ dealt solely in drugs. All of their information had led them here, for potentially one of the biggest drug busts in a decade. But there wasn’t an illegal substance in sigh, only what looked to be a breeding center with hundreds of Pokémon caged up.

“I’m confused,” Kotone finally said. “Where are the drugs? Our informant said that this was a massive operation.”

“Yeah,” Gold agreed. He sounded about as happy as she did. “And yet—”

“Only this, whatever _this_ is,” she finished, waving her hand towards the cages. “This makes no sense.”

“No, it doesn’t.”

“Detective?” Another officer spoke up, and Kotone turned towards him. Gold followed suit. “I don’t think that this was _El Locos Cranidos_ ,” he said, with slight hesitation. He stepped closer and Kotone plucked the hat that he held from his hands. It was crisp and new, like it had never been worn, still folded together. She turned it over in her hand, running her fingers along the bill. A large red ‘R’ was embroidered onto it and her blood ran cold. “There’s more in that drawer over there, along with fresh uniforms.”

“Is that—” Gold started.

“The Rocket Syndicate,” Kotone finished, glancing to him. His brow was brow was wrinkled with worry. The Rocket Syndicate was the most infamous, if not most _ruthless_ crime organization around. They had a minor presence in Goldenrod though, and rarely dealt with drugs—the commodity that they had the most trouble with in the city.

“Strange,” Gold finally said. “Goldenrod is a mecca for drug trafficking, things they don’t dabble in.”

“Counterfeiting, forgeries, illegal gambling…” she mused. “They’re mostly centered out of Cianwood, or at least, that’s what we thought.”

Gold crossed his arms over his chest. “Well, there _was_ that thing with the Radio Tower, but that was almost six years ago.”

Kotone thought, puzzling over the hat. “Even if they had an operation here—have,” she corrected herself, “What’s with the breeding center? There are daycares everywhere. What could they possibly gain from this?”

Gold watched her carefully as she faced a few steps, tossing the hat in her hands. Officer poked around them, dusting services and bagging evidence. They radioed in the Pokémon Control Unit, who worked in tandem with K-9 to corral the caged creatures safely.  

“Hey, Kit Kat,” Gold said, using her old nickname. I was her favorite candy and she could tuck away three or four bars in one sitting, much to her embarrassment. “Let’s go back to the precinct. I think that the squad’s got this under control,” he said.

“Hmmm,” she murmured as she threw the hat into an evidence bag. She turned to Gold and rubbed at her eyes. “Yeah, okay. I’m beat, to be honest.” She felt more like she had been suddenly hit by a train, but three days of little to no sleep would do that to you. It was starting to catch up to her.

Gold reached out to squeeze her shoulder, and then went to make sure that everything was squared away with the rest of their squad. Kotone turned back to the hat in her hands. The Rocket Syndicate was a huge concern, but Vice typically dealt with them, not Narcotics. For a small moment, a thought crossed her that this might be over their head. Eventually, she let out a long sigh. Too much thought for too long a day.

Gold grabbed her elbow gently and she left the scene with him, the evidence bag still gripped tightly in her hands.

 

 

\------

 

Kotone had known that the Chief would be angry when she handed in her report. She wasn’t in proper uniform, or even proper dress code, nor was her hair neatly set and tidy like the woman preferred. The Chief’s eyes scanned the report like she was a Fearow on a hunt, but barely one sentence in, her eyebrow twitched. Kotone swallowed the lump that grew in her throat. That was it, her tell. The Chief was already annoyed. Her eyebrow twitched more and more, the further she read. Finally, she tapped the papers together against her desk, making a neat stack. She preferred physical copies, so they hadn’t swapped to the digital system yet, like so many other departments had.

Kotone doubted that they would ever.

“So, Detective,” the Chief started in a cool tone, her perfectly rouged lips pursed like she had eaten a lemon. Bad, _bad_ sign. “You pretended that you were a prostitute—”

“Pretended is such a harsh word—” Kotone bravely tried to interject, but the piercing glare that she received in return was enough to make her mouth snap shut.

“You engaged the target, on your own and without backup—”

“And I beat their asses into the ground,” Kotone murmured, unwisely.

The Chief wasn’t remotely amused, and her eyebrow twitched again. “ _You put the entire operation at risk!_ ” she snapped angrily.

Kotone couldn’t even sigh. She had seen the Chief mad on many occasions, but this was a new level she had never reached. The woman’s temper was _infamous_ amongst the Goldenrod Police force, but apparently what she had endured over the past year had only been a small taste. It was a long moment before she dared speak.

“Jenny—”

“You mean Chief, detective.”

“ _Chief_ ,” Kotone continued with resignation. “I know that I didn’t exactly follow protocol, but backup was running late and we were so close. I was worried that we’d lose our window of opportunity.”

The Chief let out a long and drawn our sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose between her fingers. Kotone resisted the urge to smirk—she was working on her with a smidge of success. She _knew_ that the Chief was more worried about the safety of their own, rather than the actual infiltration, but she would never admit to it. The woman was as stubborn as they came and had enough pride to fill a boat.

“And the rest of the report is all correct?”

“The stuff about it _not_ being _El Locos Cranidos_ , and the Rocket Syndicate instead? Yeah, that’s all true.” Kotone had no quite done her job properly, having pocketed the hat instead of checking it in with the rest of the evidence. To show the Chief personally, she told herself. She pulled the evidence bag from her knapsack and tossed it onto the desk.

The Chief regarded it seriously, her brow wrinkling in concern. “While the Rocket Syndicate has had operations here in the past, this is unusual behavior.”

“That’s what I said.”

“What’s more is that this unusual behavior is branching out and turning into a pattern, based on what other precincts have told me. They’re branching out. It’s not surprising per se, especially since the organization is so large, but they’ve always remained centralized in one place. Specializing in certain things.”

“This breeding thing is a little weird, I’ll admit.”

“Hmm,” the Chief murmured. “Whatever the case, this is a cause for concern.”

“Should I contact Falkner from Vice?” Kotone asked.

“No,” was the Chief’s curt reply. “Starting now, you’re on suspension.”

Kotone’s jaw dropped. “ _Suspension_?” She was honestly speechless. She had known the Chief wouldn’t be happy, but this was taking it too far. She could tell that it took everything the woman had to not roll her eyes in response, as if it should have been painfully obvious that this would be the outcome.

Kotone had done worse in the past, with far less repercussions.

“You risked your life and the lives of others, not to mention the potential outcome of a sting that we’ve worked on for two months straight. Did you think that you would come out of this clean?”

Yes, yes she had. “I, er… always do?”

The Chief pursed her lips again. “Not this time. Two weeks, _without pay_ , just for that little comment. I’ve tolerated this behavior in the past, but it’s far time to nip it in the bud.”

“Chief—”

“Go!” she snapped, but then her gaze softened the tiniest bit. “I’ll message you if anything new pops up, at least.” She then waved her hand at Kotone, motioning for her to leave. And Kotone did, her shoulders sagging heavily as her heart burned in anger.

 

\------

 

“So… how bad was it?”

Gold was _so_ not the person she wanted to talk to, at that moment. After the Chief had kicked her from the office, she had gone straight to payroll to process the paperwork that was needed for her now unpaid leave. Er, suspension. The paperwork said ‘leave’ on it though and she hated how pleasant it tried to make it sound. Even if Narcotics hadn’t swapped to the new computer system yet, Payroll had. It was testy more times than not, and though it made typing reports easier, she couldn't get the damn thing submitted. She ended up filling it out _thrice_ , before it finally accepted it.

Her mood had gone from sour to downright foul.

“About to clean up my desk for the time being,” she said to him, chucking her small laptop into a cardboard box. It wasn’t like she wasn’t coming back, but Arceus forbid she be stuck at her home with nothing to do.

“At least you get time off, yeah? I can’t remember the last time I had a vacation.” His tone was one part sarcastic, four parts jealous.

“Yeah, _unpaid_ ,” she snapped.

“Ouch,” Gold said with a wince. Kotone let out a long sigh.

“I suppose I’ll go visit my mother. It’s been awhile.” She lived too far from her mother for comfort, but Violet City hadn’t been in need of any Detectives. She’d been shuffled around a bit before finally finding her spot in Goldenrod Narcotics. At least it wasn’t the SVU Unit of Olivine—she had lasted about a week before _begging_ for a transfer.

“How is she?” he asked, a touch of concern to his voice.

She managed a shrug. “Doctors haven’t really said much and neither has she. I assume she’s not getting better, but not getting worse.” Her mother had a nasty cancer, that while it wasn’t terminal, was still a massive worry. Twice in remission, before coming back a third time, this one in her bones. The chemo was absolutely brutal. “At least we got her into that special Hospital. I don’t like her all the way over there by herself, but I know they take good care of her.”

Gold leaned against his desk, which sat parallel to hers, his arms crossed over his chest. “Chief wasn’t too angry, was she?”

“Define _too_ ,” she replied sourly. “I thought that her lips would fall right off if she pursed them any harder.”

“She seemed alright when I gave my report fifteen minutes ago at least.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, because you do everything by the book and it’s been four hours. She’s had time to reflect on her wrongdoing.”

“Oh? Wrongdoing?”

“Of course. Her blinders are on so tight that she can’t see where we succeeded, instead of lost.”

“Hmm, I suppose.” Gold paused thoughtfully. “What do you think about the whole thing?”

“What whole thing?”

“The Rocket Syndicate? Or did you forget so soon?”

“Like I could forget that,” she scoffed. But as lighthearted as she wanted to feel about the situation, she couldn’t ignore the severity of it. Gold must have seen the subtle change in her expression, because he reached out to her shoulder and squeezed it lightly.

“Hey, it’ll be fine. We’ll figure this out.” Whether he was talking about work, or her suspension, or her mother, she wasn’t sure.

“I’m not really worried about—”

“You should be,” he said quietly. His hand lingered on her shoulder for a moment longer before he pulled away. “Anyway, you better pack up and ship out before the Chief sees you here any longer.”

“Wasting the damn payroll, as she’d say,” Kotone muttered. Complaining about the payroll, but expecting overtime at anything _but_ double pay. She shoved her briefcase into the box and then picked it up, resting it on her hip. “Oh don’t look at me like that Gold. I’m not going to be gone for that long. I’ll even bring you a souvenir.”

“I pass through Violet City every time I visit Mom,” he said dryly, but Kotone stuck her tongue out at him. She swatted his shoulder as she passed by.

“Fine then, I’ll save my money, you stinker.”

“As you should. No pay, remember?”

She snorted at that, but headed for the exit. And then with a small wave of her hand, walked from the squad room.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, it's been a long while since I've updated this. Ironically, I have quite a bit of the story written, I've just forgotten to update it. Whoops. Anyway, I rewrote this first chapter and I hope I caught most of the mistakes. If not, my apologies.
> 
> I'm not really sure how this story came about. I'm pretty sure that I dreamt up the premise after binge watching a lot of James Bond and then the Dick Tracy Movie. It's a film noir/James Bond/Davinci Code/Al Capone kind of shindig. It'll be gritty story with crime, more crime, a sprinkle of murder, followed by even more crime. There will also be science, history and a spattering of mythology, because why the hell not? I'm particularly excited.


	2. Chapter 2

**Two**

 

 

Her two-week suspension was a much needed break. When she walked through the precinct doors, the box on her hips full of her desk supplies, it was like a heavy weight had been laid back across her shoulders. Almost immediate she sighed, setting about her laptop and other things on her desk.

Gold just stood there, leaning against his desk, arms crossed over his chest. He wore a nice, long-sleeved back shirt and his shoulder holster. Despite his crisp appearance, he looked weary, his head cocked to the side as he watched her curiously. Kotone slammed her briefcase down a little bit too harshly.

His eyebrows raised slightly and he asked, “Not much of a vacation, I take it?”

“Oh no,” she said to him, “it was a fantastic vacation. It just ended far too soon.”

“At first you didn’t even want to leave; might I remind you.”

“Hnngh,” she eloquently grunted. Finally, she was done, setting the box onto the floor. Stretching out her back, she dropped into her chair. It was large and leather, an expense that she had initially winced at spending, but it had been _so worth it_. She reclined back slightly, resting her feet on her desk. “I will say this though—I missed my chair.”

“And how was your mother?”

“Not better, not worse,” she said with a nonchalant shrug. But Gold could tell that she was trying to make the best of an ill situation. “Doctor says the chemo is doing well enough, but she’s weak. Causes me to worry.”

“Me too,” he conceded, but that was Gold. He was a worrier, even over people like her mother. Then again, he did know her well; he’d practically lived at their house when they were children.

“She’ll be alright. Told me to tell you hi, for her.”

“And where is my souvenir?” he asked with a smile.

Kotone pursed her lips. “I distinctly remember telling you that you wouldn’t get one.”

“Hey, only a joke.”

Kotone frowned at him, her bottom lip sticking out in a small pout. “Joking aside, what’s the situation?”

That sobered up Gold a bit and he ran a nervous hand through his hair. He had gotten cut while she was gone, cropped short, the black strands dark against his pale skin. He grabbed his own chair and pulled it next to her, before flopping into it.

“Nothing new really. Didn’t the Chief say she’d brief you?”

“She said she’d alert me to any new info, but I wasn’t really expecting her to. I figured she said it to make me feel a bit better. Put me at ease, or something.”

“We are talking about the Chief, right?”

Kotone made a face at that. “Point taken.”

“Really though, there’s not much. We ran evidence, but no luck. No fingerprints, no DNA. The men we locked up won’t budge either.”

“Not a word?”

Gold shook his head. “They’ll be indicted soon, but we can’t charge them with much until they decide to talk.”

“I figured there’d be…. Well, _more_ ,” Kotone sighed.

“The Rocket Syndicate knows how to cover their tracks. I mean think about it. We know so much about them, but there’s rarely any rock solid evidence. They’re an old school crime organization, and their skill is testament to that.”

“Mostly because they know how to tie up their loose ends.”

Gold frowned. “There’s that too, I suppose.”

Kotone was about to reply when another voice beat her to it.

“Soul.” It was the Chief, who had poked her head through the doorway of her office. “A moment please?”

Kotone flashed a quick look at Gold, who shrugged back at her in confusion. He seemed as clueless as to what the woman wanted as she was. She sighed, pushing herself from her chair and heading towards their boss.

The Chief’s office was stifling and hot, like the air condition wasn’t working quite right. There were stacks of books and reports everywhere, and Kotone realized that the vent must have been blocked. Despite the disarray of the room, the Chief’s hair was perfectly plaited and knotted at the nape of her neck, not a strand out of place. She stuck her finger into her collar and tugged at it a bit.

“Welcome back, detective,” she said by way of greeting. Kotone grunted, not bothering to sit in the chair in front of the desk. The Chief looked up, glancing over the report in her hand and continued with, “Please, sit.”

“I’d rather stand, honestly,” Kotone said, trying to seem indifferent. For all the difference between the two of them, she did like the boss. The Chief had been the one to keep her, instead of shuffling her around to the next precinct like all the others. Still, she _was_ a bit miffed about her suspension.

“Really, Kotone, you should sit.”

 _That_ surprised her, since the Chief never called anyone by their first names. It was either ranks or last names—all business. Kotone eyed her suspiciously as she took the seat. It was hard and uncomfortable, and she perched on the end of it with her back straight. The Chief sighed tiredly, a bit uncharacteristic, as she set the report back down on the desk.

“No doubt your partner has briefed you on the situation?” It was then that Kotone noticed how exhausted she sounded. She saw the faintest of circles under her eyes, concealed by make-up. Judging by all the paperwork surrounding them, the Chief had been working non-stop, like everyone else.

“More like lack thereof,” Kotone responded, and the Chief nodded.

“We’ve been working day and night to puzzle this thing out. The operation, the breeding, the connection with the Rocket Syndicate, but there’s not a lot to go on. They covered their tracks well.”

“So it seems.”

“Well, now that I’m back, we can get this ball rolling. With all of us, we’ll get to the bottom of this.”

The Chief looked at Kotone seriously for a moment, her fingers pressed together in front of her. Like her notorious eyebrow twitch, this was another tell that she had, one that happened when she was trying to pick her words carefully. Usually during a press conference, where she often had to tread lightly.

“As much as I am glad to have your back, I must regretfully inform you that you are being transferred,” she finally said.

Kotone wasn’t sure that she had heard correctly. She waited for the Chief to reveal that it was a massive joke, but the punchline never came. Finally, her jaw slackened. “ _Transferred_?”

“Quite unfortunate,” the Chief said. There was a touch of sadness and irritation to her tone. “It certainly isn’t _my_ idea.”

“Then who’s damn decision is it? Central?”

“I’m afraid it’s higher up than that.”

“Higher?” Kotone spouted. “Who on earth—”

“The Department of Special Affairs.”

That caused Kotone to pause. “What,” she finally blurted, teetering on the edge of her seat and about to fall off. If she did, she wasn’t sure that she would be able to catch herself, because this whole thing was utter chaos.

“Trust me,” the Chief continued, “I have _no_ desire to send my best Detective to that ridiculous branch, but I have no choice. You must understand this.”

“What on earth do they want me for?”

“Vice used to deal with the Rocket Syndicate, but when their organization took root and boomed into an intricate threat, the Department was called in to take over. That was almost six years ago. They’ve slowly been working their way into infiltrating them, but with little success.”

Kotone gulped slightly at that, knowing _exactly_ had happened to those operatives.

“But that is all they really told me, since the rest of the case files are apparently classified. All I know is that they are planning another operation and that you seem to be perfect for it.”

“Me,” Kotone repeated, just a little bit breathless.

“Yes. Your recklessness and painfully obvious disdain for rules and authority are _exactly_ what they are looking for, it seems.”

“I don’t have a disdain for anything—”

“Regardless, this is way above my head,” the Chief interrupted, her voice quiet. Regretful, even. “So, you are indefinitely transferred to them, until they decide to send you back.”

“But they will send me back, right?” The Department of Special Affairs did handle undercover operations, but aside from that it was mostly desk work. Managing the stings, doing paperwork and the like. She would be trading in her already short leash for a collar.

“I assume so, at least. They made it seem temporary.” But Kotone could tell that she didn’t really know.

“I suppose that I should do my best to not disappear then, doing whatever it is they want me to.”

The Chief’s brow furrowed at this. “Do you worry that you won’t do well? Kotone, you’re my best and that is why they are asking for you.”

“I thought they wanted me, because I’m reckless,” Kotone couldn’t help but snap, but she instantly regretted it once she saw the crease that formed across the Chief’s brow.

“They want you because you’re a _highly_ sought after Detective. Do you know how many precincts have begged me to transfer you to them over the year? _Nine_.”

Her little confession warmed Kotone. She had never doubted that the Chief had at least liked her, but to think that she felt so highly of her to the point of selfishness… her heart swelled with pride.

“So what if I say no?”

The Chief frowned at that. “I don’t think that you can.” Kotone sighed, knowing there wasn’t a way around any of this. “At least the pay is good, almost triple your salary here.” That was _almost_ incentive enough, but she tried to not let it sway her. If DoSA wanted her, it was likely to go undercover and if that was the case, who knew how long she’d be gone.

“Will you assign a new partner to Gold?” she finally asked. She supposed that was her biggest fear—coming back after a long absence and losing her place there.

“I wasn’t planning on it, no. At least not permanently. He seems capable of handling things on his own.”

Kotone sighed in relief at that. As childish as it was, she and Gold had risen to where they were together, and she didn’t want to lose that. She couldn’t imagine anyone else as her partner, or as his, for that matter. They could practically read each other’s minds.

“When do I go?” she asked.

“As soon as possible. You’ll head out to New Bark Town when you pack up your desk.”

“New Bark Town?” _That_ surprised her. She had grown up there. The place was barely a town, with only a few major roads and a downtown, tucked into the side of Mount Silver.

“It’s where DoSA is currently headed out of.”

Kotone tried to think back—where could they have possibly set up camp? How long had they been there? Once upon a time, there had been a well-known Pokémon laboratory there, but that was _decades_ ago—almost before her time. But she supposed that if no one knew they were there, that meant they did their job well. Perhaps she would get along with them decently.

But then again, if they were rule-oriented… she likely wouldn’t.

“I am sorry that you’ve been pulled into this,” her boss suddenly said, and there was a note of concern in her voice. “This certainly won’t be easy, on any of us.”

“I wouldn’t suppose so,” Kotone replied.

The Chief nodded and reached up to touch her hair, ensuring that it was still plaited and pinned perfectly. “Anyhow, go pack up your desk again.” Kotone managed a quick laugh as she stood from the chair, moving for the doorway. “I fully expect you back in one piece,” the Chief continued from behind her.

Kotone paused in the door jam, looking back towards her. A rare moment of affection from the Chief, if only a small one. “You would expect anything less?” she said to her, before giving her a mock salute. The moment was broken when the Chief rolled her eyes and shooed her from the office.

Once back to her desk, she grabbed the box she had dropped on the floor and threw her briefcase into it unceremoniously. Her laptop soon followed.

Gold leaned back in his chair, watching her with raised eyebrows. “Planning on another trip?”

Kotone grabbed her small picture frame, pausing to look at it. A younger version of herself looked back at her, with a younger Gold leaning on her shoulder. Her mother had taken this years ago, before she had gotten sick the first time.

“Apparently New Bark Town,” she said, acid pouring into tone.

“Back home? Is there something I should know?”

“Only that I’m being transferred indefinitely.” She dumped the picture into the box with the rest of her stuff and then covered it with the lid.

That caused Gold to stand abruptly. “ _Transferred_ —”

“Temporarily!” Kotone hissed at him, trying to calm him down. He did, if only slightly, but he couldn’t stop the frown that crept onto his face. “At least, that’s what the Chief said.”

“Why on earth New Bark Town? There’s nothing there, not even a proper police station! There’s just old Bucky the Sheriff, _if_ he hasn’t died yet.”

“Gold!” Kotone hissed again. Old Bucky might have been old and decrepit, but he had done his job well. He certainly had never had an issue catching her and Gold in the act. Besides, he had always been a bit lenient when it came to their shenanigans, and she would forever thank him for that. Gold seemed to have conveniently forgotten.

“There’s nothing there,” he said.

Kotone rolled her eyes at him. “Apparently the Department of Special Affairs is.”

“ _What_?” Gold sputtered. He looked away from her, trying to reason it out. “Where though?”

“And that is a good question, one that I cannot _fathom_ the answer too,” she said sarcastically before leaning on her box with a pause. “Gold, this isn’t exactly easy for me.”

He sighed. “I’m not saying that it should be.”

“You need to hold down the fort while I’m gone.”

He nodded, his lips settling into a grim lime along his face. She didn’t like that and leaned towards him, resting a hand on his shoulder. “Gold, this isn’t the end of the world.”

“No, but it could be the end of _you_. Transferring you after we bust a major Syndicate operation? This is involved, isn’t it? You have to tread lightly. I don’t want you mailed back here in _pieces_.”

She had read enough reports to know that his concern wasn’t unwarranted. “You’re getting angry,” she observed instead.

“I can’t believe that you agreed too—”

“I thought it was pretty clear that I didn’t have a _choice_ —”

“I just—This—Ugh!” Gold let out a long and exasperated sigh, running his hands through his hair. “Whatever. Go and get yourself killed, I _don’t care_ ,” he snapped as he turned around and stalked off. Kotone blinked in surprise, trying to ignore the stares from the other officers in the precinct. What a strange mood swing that had been, and she couldn’t understand where it had come from. Gold had been far testier as of late, but the tantrum was so out of nowhere that it left her almost winded. She stood straight and hefted the box onto her hip.

If that was how he was going to act though, then fine by her. She wasn’t going to even entertain such a ridiculous fight. Spat. Whatever that had been. And she didn’t want to leave it like that, between them, but she sure as hell wouldn’t be the one to apologize when she had done nothing wrong.

She let out a frustrated grunt, leaving behind her empty desk as she headed for the front. A chill shot up her spine and she couldn’t shake it. It was like the day that she had gotten suspended, only this time she had the distinct feeling that she wouldn’t be coming back.

 

\-----

 

The amount of dust that their home had accumulated was appalling. It _was_ true that between her mother being sick and Kotone moving to Goldenrod, no one had lived in the house for two years. Their neighbor had been given the key in an effort to get a semi-regular vacuuming done, but apparently that hadn’t happened.

Kotone ran her finger along her wardrobe, disturbing what seemed like an inch-thick paste of the stuff. Absolutely disgusting. She dropped her bag on the dusty floor with a sigh. She hadn’t packed much, because she didn’t know exactly what she needed. She had settled on a few sets of clothing, a towel and her make-up. Oh, and her gun and pokéball holster.

It felt weird to be back in her home, so full of memories. Happy ones of her and Gold, reaking havoc together as children. Sad ones, where she could see her mother collapsed on the floor, crying as she told them the cancer had come back. Ones that she tried to forget, like her father and his office still full of his junk.

When she had first moved to Goldenrod, the new start had been refreshing. It had never quite been _home_ , but now that she had come back to her roots, the large city seemed awkward. She longed for the simplicity that her life had once been.

She sighed as she glanced around her room again, before heading to the kitchen to find a broom and a dustpan.

\-----

 

It had taken the better part of the day to get the house in order. It wasn’t nearly as dusty as she had first thought—the main area of the home had been looked after. The neighbor must have been too polite to tidy up their personal rooms. Kotone didn’t blame them. So she had vacuumed and dusted, making the house somewhat livable again. Her mother’s room had been even worse than hers.

Eventually, she found herself face-to-face with her father’s old office. Kotone had been very young when he had died, so she didn’t have many memories of him. What she did remember was the haze that her mother had lived in two years afterwards. Those were the years that she and Gold had become close, practically living at his home.  In retrospect it seemed cruel, but she had been _seven_. Children don’t see those things, nor do they understand them.

Her fingers hovered over the doorknob for a moment before turning it. It was locked.

Kotone knew this, just like she knew where the key was hidden. And yet, she still couldn’t bring herself to open it. It was like a museum of him, one that she didn’t want to disturb. Her Pokégear chirped it’s annoying ringtone, snapping her from her thoughts. Heading to her room, she pulled it from her bag.

“Hello?”

“Oh good,” the Chief sighed in relief, on the other end. “I was worried that I wouldn’t catch you. You so rarely answer this stupid thing.”

“Well, considering that I have no idea what I’m doing here, and that I’m waiting on info—”

“Precisely why I’m calling you. The Department contacted, saying that you’ve arrived at your home, yes?”

Kotone blinked, checking her surroundings in paranoia. So they had been watching her, creepy. A tingle went up her back. “Yes, I have.”

“Good, good,” the Chief said quickly. She didn’t seem remotely bothered by the agency’s surveillance.

“Tomorrow morning, you are to report to this address—I’ll send it through a secured mail. They didn’t say a time, but I would assume mid-morning would do.”

“This seems a bit unorganized,” Kotone mused.

There was a paused on the other end before her boss answered. “Well, the _only_ reason that I even have this info is because I kept badgering them about it. I’m pretty sure their department is run by a buffoon.”

“Thanks, Chief,” Kotone said. And she meant it; the Chief had gone out of her way to ensure everything would end up square.

“Yes, yes,” was the reply. There was another pause and a crackle of static over the connected. “But really Detective, I expect you back here in one piece and ready to work, you hear? Don’t go and get yourself killed.”

 _Go and get yourself kill, I don’t care_ , Gold had said. She frowned at the remembered words, his tone hitting harder than she would like to admit.

“Hey, for all we know they might be giving me a desk job?”

“You, a desk job? My dear, you are well known beyond our department. They would be idiots to not put you in the field.”

It was an odd compliment, lightly laced with an insult, but that was the Chief’s standard way of showing affection. She’d take what she could get. “Yea, yea,” Kotone said. “Really though, I owe you one boss.”

“Hmph, we’ll see about that. Good day and good health to you.”

The line crackled and then went dead. Kotone pocketed the Pokégear and went back to the kitchen. It was late and she was tired from cleaning. A quick trip to the grocery and a simple supper, and then she would tuck down for bed. The boss had been right—mid-morning would be the best time to show up. She felt almost antsy at the thought.

Her Pokégear beeped, receiving the extra message the Chief had promised. Pulling the device out, she scanned the text. _3400 Elm Street_. Odd place. That was the street the old lab had been, aptly named after the Professor who had worked there. The man had been a genius in the field of Pokémon evolution, but he had retired quite suddenly and shut the place down. She’d been a toddler at the time.

She smiled, remembering that she and Gold had often tried to sneak into the old building, with no luck.

With a sigh, she grabbed her small pack, and before long she was walking to the nearest store. Even though the scenery was a bit different, the steps were familiar and that was a small comfort in a sea of uncertainty.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a long while since I've updated, but I really wanted to fix these chapters before posting more chapters. Poor, poor Kotone and Gold, what a typical man.


End file.
